Dientes

Dulce Mateo durmió anoche. Él está aún enfermo, pero estoy contento. Tambien, yo pienso él tiene uno o dos dientes nuevos. Pobre bebé.

So tired

I'm sooooo tired today. Matthew didn't sleep well last night and we're both dragging today. Don't want to get off the couch. Should be taking a nap, but it's too close to pick-up time (Robert) and there are four men working very noisily in the crawlspace right now (Radon mitigation).

I had a dream last night that I was applying for some sort of permit and my chances of securing said permit would increase greatly if I could apply as a "native" Spanish-speaker. Foolishly, I decided to attempt it. I had to "prove" my Spanish fluency in a conversational interview. It was a disaster, but I remember keeping my cool and asking "una vez, por favor?"...once again, please?

I'm really enjoying this new adventure into another language. Duolingo is fun, but its approach to conjugation and grammar isn't quite my style. I've been supplementing with textbooks and other language resources. Duolingo lacks a verbal/conversational component. I crave conversation that will force me to work through the language in "real time". Right now, I'm afraid to speak it because I don't want to make a mistake...and I feel like I don't know enough to sustain any sort of conversation. But I must, right? Even if I sound like a 3-year-old, I should be able to communicate a little. Maybe I could write it instead. Maybe even here on the blog? If I can just figure out a quick way to put accented letters into the text...

Hoy, yo estoy muy fatigue. Mi hijo, Matéo, durmió con un recién nacido. Argh! Los trabajadores están ruidosos, pero yo estoy agradecido por sus trabajo. También, mi amiga se marchar de Illinois a la Alemania y yo recordaro todos mis amigos quienes marchen de aquí. Estoy un poco triste, pero el peor cosa es la sensación de la pérdida. 

Espanol

I'm currently 32% fluent in Spanish.

How they calculated my language proficiency with TWO significant digits, I'll never know.

I'm learning through the DuoLingo app on my new cell phone. It's fun to apply my brain to something like school again. It feels more like a game than school, though, so I find myself wanting to pull it out whenever I have a couple minutes to spare. So much temptation!

It's fun to bounce my rudimentary concept of the language with Bobby's knowledge of Brazilian Portugese. Alice is a fan, but Robert and James kinda groan and ask for "English only, please."

Anyway, learning a new language has finally become one of the things filling up that sliver of space that I gained when Robert started Kindergarten...10 weeks ago. Regular exercise is another one, weather permitting. Let's hope I find a new balance for the last portion of that space before the school year ends ;)

Happy Birthday, Matthew!

Matthew is one! A whole year! It kills me to think that it's been that long and that short. He's a fun guy to have around: curious, easy-going, sociable. Some of his favorite hobbies include eating crud off the floor and unwinding toilet paper. He's sooooooo good at unwinding toilet paper. Those little pincer fingers just keep creeping around the roll until he catches the end of it. Brilliant little man.

Matthew started his birthday bright and early this morning at 4:30am...45 minutes earlier than his usual unbelievably early wake time. Thanks, dude.

Snotty nose and a black eye. Being one is AWESOME!

Matthew had his check-up at the doctor today and appears to be healthy and growing on his own curve (15th percentile for length, 50th for weight, 85th for head circumference). He's sooooooo small compared to his brothers at this age. Matthew was 22 pounds 13 ounces today on his first birthday. Robert and James hit that weight when they were only 6-8 months old. Part of my reluctance to celebrate his first birthday stems from the fact that he's just too small to be 12 months old. Well, he's just not as large as I'm accustomed to my 1-year-olds being.

The doctor noted Matthew's precocious social skills. He points, makes eye contact, and vocalizes to direct your attention. Yeah, that's 18-month-old work. Add that to the fact that he's quick to warm up to new people and...I sense another extrovert in the making. Sigh. In other news, I detect a slight preference for his left hand, so I haven't completely given up hope on generating a lefty.

Matthew, like James, also has extra fluid on his ears. We're taking him back in 6 weeks for a follow-up. I get the feeling this doctor worries a lot about fluid on eardrums. My last doctor kinda fixated on another small potential problem and brought it up every visit, too.

Matthew has been walking almost exclusively, so we bought him his first pair of shoes this week:

Itty bitty shoes, just big enough to fit a couple of golf balls in. Can someone that small really need shoes?

The first day he wore them, he acted like I had cut off his feet...moaning and whining as he drag-crawled on the floor. Poor guy. But now he has the hang of them and can go pretty much anywhere he likes:

Check out my artsy-fartsy camera angle. I totally did that on purpose.

After a few immunizations, we came home to start on Matthew's birthday cake. I let James choose the design. He suggested a pool cake:

Bobby took a video, but I'm too tired to post it tonight (I got up at 4:30 this morning, remember?). Matthew didn't believe his cake was worth eating until he had smooshed it to crumbs with his bare hands. Then he tasted it and loved it and pointed/vocalized at the rest of the cake on the table. Yep, no problem telling what he wants.

Love that boy, snot and all. I wish he would let me sleep until 7am, but no one is perfect :)

New picts!

A friend of ours is developing her photography skills and she offered us a mini photo package for the family. I was excited to accept! It was FREEZING that morning, unfortunately, so we stayed in our coats, thus rendering all of my color scheme planning pointless. Oh well. I didn't spend that much time on it :)

She touched up the photos afterwards, so you don't see as many red, runny noses as you should. Here are a few of my favorites (in addition to the ones now adorning our blog page):